


The Men Behind the Images

by VanityToAshes



Series: Shenanigan Snapshots [2]
Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Candy, Drunken Flirting, Drunken Shenanigans, Established Relationship, Fluff, Love, M/M, Sneaking Around, Stuffed Toys
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-26
Updated: 2018-07-26
Packaged: 2019-06-16 13:55:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15438507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VanityToAshes/pseuds/VanityToAshes
Summary: Scenes from before and after the described photos in my 'Thinking of You' fic were taken.*Tags will be added with chapters.





	The Men Behind the Images

**Author's Note:**

> Reyes takes his boyfriend, Scott out late at night to not-so-sneakily "retrieve" a gift he has for him.
> 
> Fluffy, silly and probably out of character ridiculousness. My apologies. I hope you enjoy!

**Snapshot:**

* _Scott is standing, looking up, eyebrows knit together, his arms crossed, expression of “I'm **not** impressed.” Reyes is several crates above him sitting over the edge, holding an orange lollipop in view, a favourite flavour of Scott's, one that he had just stolen from the lips of his Pathfinder_.*

***

“My darling, if we -hehe- are to get in and out -haha- undetected, you will have to stop your -tehe- insistent giggling. As cute as it is, -hoo!- it can get us -hee!- caught.” Reyes says to his boyfriend in between his silly giggles, who in turn cups his own mouth in attempt to silence them.

When Scott nods his co-operation, they then continue sneaking in the darkness of the night, making their way to their destination _almost_ silently, apart from a few giggles that slip free followed by several “sorry’s” and the soft crunching of gravel under their crouched steps.

Approaching behind a tall crate, Reyes stops dead in his tracks, causing Scott to bump into his back uncouthly with an 'oofph!". He swiftly smacks his hand against his lover’s mouth which turns his next stubborn giggle into a distorted snort, making Scott laugh even harder. He faces Scott with his forefinger against his lips in a silent ‘shhh’, before flicking his head to the right, signalling to the other that there's someone nearby.

 “Hehe! I can't help it!” Scott giggle-whispers as he shuffles closer behind his smuggler, “When you -hee!- asked me if I wanted to -hehe!- smuggle something, I didn't think it'd be so -snort- fun!” he leans heavily on the older man, breath hot against his ear, “It’s soo.. -indecipherable mumbling- .. _naughty!”_ he squeaks.

If that was an attempt at seduction, it failed. Miserably.

“We haven't even star-” Reyes cuts off, staring into the other’s glazed eyes, illuminated from the dim lights from the nearby building. “How many drinks did you have?” He asks cautiously.

“Two.” Scott answers, smiling sheepishly.

Reyes’ eyes narrow, crossing his arms over his chest, “SAM, how many drinks did Scott have?” he asks, unconvinced.

“Oh come oon-!” Scott whines.

“ _Eight mixed shots, four beers and one Angaran special roughly translated to: ‘Blissful Ignorance._ “ The AI helpfully responds.

“Shit.” He exhales, pinching the bridge of his nose. “This was a bad idea. We'll come back when you're sober.”

“Aww, c’mon Rey-”

“ _I can lessen the effects of the alcohol to a ‘pleasant buzz’, equivalent to only five shots, if you like_.” SAM offers.

"Naahhh," Scott swats his hand dismissively. "no need SAM. I'm f-hic-fiiine" He assures, smiling lopsidedly at his not-at-all-convinced lover.

Reyes contemplates for a moment. "Promise!" Ryder adds, attempting seriousness but squeaks instead. He pouts, “Pleease?” he silently begs with his large puppy eyes and his hands clasped under his chin.

Sighing in inevitable defeat, damn him and his beautiful.. everything. “Fine. Let him be, SAM.” Reyes says, uncrossing his arms while Scott reverse fist bumps and whispers a triumphant "Yesss!"

After running a hand through his own hair muttering a rhetorical, "What am I doing?" he then points a half-hearted accusatory finger. “If you get us caught, you better pull some _serious_ Pathfinder strings, drunken puppy eyes and cute giggling or not.”

“Orrr,” Scott chimes, “we could just..” he smirks mischievously, “use another _distraction.”_ he winks, or twitches, Reyes can't tell.

Reyes sighs in exasperated fondness, “Don't make me regret this.” he lightly warns.

Scott motions his forefinger and thumb across his lips in a ‘my lips are sealed’ gesture. Reyes then picks up a sizable pebble and bounces it in his hand a few times, testing its weight, before throwing it away from the patrolling guard, who takes the bait - flashing his torch over to the noise and makes his way to it.

“Pfft, child’s play.” Reyes mutters, and grabs Scott’s hand leading him to a side entrance of the building. He brings up his omni-tool, taps in a few numbers and the small door swishes open, “Stay close.” he orders, and they enter.

“That door was qui-” Scott stops short, “Woaah, Reyes, you weren't kidding when you said this place was huge!” Scott exclaims, gawking at the large storage room.

Thousands of crates of all sizes stacked to various degrees all throughout the building, some towered to the ceiling several hundred metres above them, all stacked closely together leaving only narrow paths to walk through.

“How do you even move anything in here? It's packed tighter than a nun’s arsehole.” Scott quips.

 _Ew._ Reyes cringes at the crude analogy, shaking his head to rid of the inappropriate image, “Hey, no need to dis my ancestors.” he says playfully.

"Ancestors?" Scott gives him a befuddled look, “But nuns don't…” he trails off as Reyes eyes him in amusement.

"So she decided to have a little fun, so what?" He shrugs. 

Scott snorts, amused, “That explains a few things.”

Reyes begins to scan their surroundings for any unwanted company, so far seeing none.

“Uhuh. Remember that technically I'm not allowed in this area being ‘third-rate’ and all, soo.. we best keep quiet.” Reyes divert and brings up codes on his omni-tool.

After he receives no further response and soon hears a struggle and “piffshh” of a lid opening, he snaps his gaze -at whiplash speed- to the now several metres away, drunk Pathfinder who’s bent over a crate with his top half buried inside, ass in the air, rummaging through the contents. Reyes’ eyebrows shot up so fast they nearly flew off his forehead.

“Oooooh, Reyes look!” He pops his head up, triumphantly holding a small, pink and fluffy plush toy with a rainbow across its belly, “I know these! A Care Bear! It's sooo cute!” he exclaims nuzzling it, "Mmph, smells like strawberries and happiness.." Scott says dreamily, his voice muffled against the toy's tummy. Reyes is definitely _not_ jealous.

Then suddenly, Scott looks at it adoringly like the sun shines out of it’s bum or something.

Reyes’ eyelid twitches in annoyance. Nope. Not jealous of a toy. **At all**.

“Ryder,” he whispers, no response. “Ryder,” He tries again a little louder to the man who happens to be unaware, still snuggling the stuffed animal near his face and telling the toy it's new name is ‘Mr. Cutie-Snuggle-Boop’, as he boops it's nose. “Ryder!” Reyes snaps, finally catching the man’s attention, “Get your ass over here and stick to the plan!”

“.. 'Asses'.., 'sticks'.., we all know where you shoved your stick.” Scott grumbles to himself, turning to put the toy back in its original place. He looks at the small, innocent animal, then peeks over his shoulder to the man who’s now bypassing several crate codes, he glances at the toy again, thinks ‘why the hell not’ and stuffs it in his back pocket and stumbles his way to his handsome smuggler.

“Heyy, good lookin’,” Scott attempts charmingly, as he leans against a shelf, misjudging the distance his elbow misses and he bangs his head on the corner. Reyes, the polite and supportive boyfriend he is, places a fist against his mouth to suppress his reaction.

" _Is this where one would say, 'smooth'?_ " SAM mocks.

Reyes bursts out laughing. Scott flips him off.

Remembering that they're supposed to be sneaking, he quickly collects himself, stands, and moves Scott’s other hand away to assess the area for signs of damage, “Just a small bump. And a bruised ego.” he assures chuckling and places a soft kiss on the red, swelling mark.

“That really hurt.” Scott mumbles childishly, pouting and rubbing the mark. Reyes shakes his head and smiles in fondness for his lover, “I have something that will make you feel better, don't worry.”

Scott’s eyes light up from Reyes’ promise and he smiles in return.

“I just need to find it first.” He adds.

Scott’s brows furrow and smile disappears, “You mean you don't even know where whatever you're looking for **is**!?” he asks incredulously.

“I have a vague idea where it is.” Reyes defends.

“Do you even know how long it will take us to look through all this?!” He swings his arm, gesturing to the crates surrounding them.

“ _My calculations estimate the approximate time to search this area will be two years, four months, five days, sixteen hours, eleven minutes and forty-seven seconds, in your current state, Pathfinder.“_ SAM remarks, and Reyes quietly mutters a surprised, "Well, shit, you really  _are_ wasted." and quietly suggests, "You could just scan the crates.."

Scott's face goes pale, not having heard Reyes, “This is not how I envisioned my life.” he says melancholically.

“You won't be here _or_ drunk for two years-”

“I had people to meet..”

“-not if I have anything to say about it anyway.”

“and paths to find..”

Some rustling, “Hey, I think I found it.”

“..Oh, god, my beautiful sister.” He sinks to the floor.

The distant sound of a lid opening, “Aha! Scott.”

“What will I tell her?” He whispers dramatically,  running his hands through his hair. “What will the others think?” He all but squeaks.

“Scott!” He snaps out of his sunken state.

“I said I found it!” Reyes exclaims excitedly.

Scrambling to his feet, his brooding seemingly forgotten, he takes Reyes’ extended hand and gets lead to his surprise.

“Close your eyes.” Reyes instructs softly, as he and Scott stop in front of a medium-sized crate. Scott obeys, closing his eyes.

“Open your mouth.”

Scott snorts -something he seems to be doing a lot of lately-, “Really Reyes? You wanna do _that_ here? In another storage room?” he receives a smack on the arm. “Ow!”

“Not that, you stupid. Just trust me.”

Rubbing his arm, Scott opens his mouth and hears a crinkling sound. “What is -argh-!” a rounded object gets shoved in his mouth, the flavour and smell of orange caressing his senses.

“Remember when you said how much you liked and miss a certain confectionery?”

He rolls the object around in his mouth a few times before opening his eyes and pulling it out into view.

“No way.” He looks at the item in disbelief, then at Reyes, smiles, then looks at the item again. “No way!” He repeats, eagerly shoving it back in his mouth.

“Carnk beleef you hab Chubba Chubs!” Scott says, rolling the lollipop around in his mouth to extract more fruity flavour.

Reyes raises an amused eyebrow, “You shouldn't speak with your mouth full, and I think you mean ‘Chupa Chups’, my dear.”

“Icks wot I saif!” Scott looks at him like he's stupid.

Reyes chuckles, amused by Scott's adorableness.

Scott takes the ‘pop out of his mouth, “You're amazing, thanks babe.” he coos, and presses a soft, orange and alcohol flavoured kiss to his lover’s lips, smiling against them.

“Something sweet for my sweetheart, you're welcome.” Reyes says after the kiss is broken.

“And cheesy too.”

“You love it.”

“I do.”

After eyeing each other for a small eternity, Scott then decides it's a good idea to try and tempt his boyfriend by placing the lollipop against his lips, slowly licking the sweet substance and placing a suggestive kiss on the top. Reyes watches every move carefully. Scott slips the lolli’ inside his mouth, making an obscene moan around it. Reyes then snatches it from him.

“Hey! What the hell?” Scott accuses as he tries to grab the ‘pop out of Reyes’ grasp.

“You're not allowed to be distracting.”

“Give it back!” Scott half-heartedly demands.

“Say please.”

“Screw you. Give it back!”

Reyes’ expression turns to shock then he points behind Scott, “Look over there!”

“Huh? What?” Scott turns to see, and Reyes hurriedly slinks away giggling, “I can't believe that worked.” to himself.

Confused, Scott turns back to find Reyes’ old spot is vacant. He scowls, realization having hit him in slow motion. “Why that little…” he trails off as he peaks around the corner, opens a few lids and squeezes through a couple tight gaps.

After several moments, he huffs, “Where the hell is he! SAM?”

He hears a whistle above him, looking up, he sees Reyes sitting over the edge of a crate several metres above him, holding his lollipop in view.

“ _He's right there, Scott._ ” SAM almost snarks.

Scott’s scowl deepens, "I swear you two team up against me sometimes." he crosses his arms over his chest, “Reyes..” he warns, his drunken state seemingly evaporated from his growing frustration.

“Hold that pose!” Reyes fumbles for something, “You look _so_ adorable frowning down there.” He says as he takes a snapshot.

A short burst of biotics later and there's a pissed off Pathfinder standing beside Reyes before he could realise his mistake and say, “Oh shit.”

To make matters worse, or because he's just a cheeky bastard that likes to test his limits, he pops the Chupa Chup in his own mouth, bites it off the stick and smirks.

“Nooo!” Scott cries, and pulls Reyes to the centre of the crate, straddles him and pins his hands above his head.

“Give it back.” He says coolly.

“Why don't you take it?” He asks suggestively.

Scott slowly leans down closer to the body below him, a hair's width away from those tantalizing lips-

“Hey! Show yourselves!” a stranger's voice yells, snapping both men out of the moment.

“ _I detect two armed individuals below us and four more closing in._ ” SAM informs.

“Shit, now you've done it.” Reyes whispers.

Scott frowns again, “Me!? _You_ were the one that stole my candy!” he hisses back.

“Because you were distracting!” and because he likes a flustered Scott he adds, “It was too easy, like stealing from a baby!”

“I was drunk!” He defends. "...You've stolen from a baby?"

“ _Two more armed individuals closing in._ ” SAM says, sounding somewhat ‘over it’ and amused at the same time.

“Of course not. And I don't suppose you have that distraction handy, do you?”

“Since I'm not drunk anymore, no, not really.”

"...Well, what was your idea anyway?" 

Scott's face pinches in concentration, "I think it involved confetti and nudity."

“Oh my god." Reyes rolls his eyes and eats the 'pop.

It's amazing how the sound of Reyes crunching resembled Scott's heart at that moment.

"Follow my lead.” he says, and with a grunt slips free from Scott’s legs and begins to run to the far edge of the long crate.

“There they are!” One of the voices below shouts, the sound of more footsteps and guns reloading follows. “Guard the exists!”

Scott hurriedly follows behind the older man, matching him leap for leap over every crate they can cross, closing the distance to the door they entered in, which so far -miraculously- is still unguarded.

In a matter of moments, Reyes punches in the code, and both men make their last leap to freedom, and roll out the door, locking it behind them.

They race into the darkness, stumble over each other and land in a nearby bush, laughing.

After they catch their breath, realization crosses Scott’s features.

“Haa.. hey, what's wrong?” Reyes asks concerned and sitting up.

“How are we going to get the Chupa Chups now?” He asks sadly.

Reyes smiles warmly, “That’s what pockets are for,” he says pulling out a few more lollipops, “and two small crates will be sent aboard the Tempest tomorrow morning.” he assures.

“Re-” A shot echoes through the air, cutting off Scott’s words, ricocheting off an object and hitting something with a soft “piff” scattering pink fur and fluff in the air.

“I've been shot!” Scott exclaims.

“Shit!” Reyes pulls him opposite side of the bush further from view and uses his dim omni-tool light to look over his lover.

A few frantic moments pass and he notices a hole in Scott’s back pocket. Rolling Scott over, he pulls his pants down.

“Oh! Reyes, dignity!” Scott exclaims in a high operatic tone, from shock.

Immensely relieved, “That toy saved your ass.” he says, pulling Scott’s pants back up. “Literally.”

"It-" referring to the stuffed toy, "-however, wasn't so lucky." He says, looking at the colourful mess around them.

Scott gasps, “Noo! Not- .... what did I call it again?”

***

The next evening, boarding the _Tempest_ and entering his room, Scott can't help but notice the 'personal-sized' box of lollipops with a small, pink, fluffy creature sitting on top of it in the middle of his bed. The toy's belly restuffed, left arm wrapped in a sling with signatures from Scott’s crew and boyfriend, an eyepatch over its missing left eye and a ‘Get well soon’ balloon floating above it. 

He smiles and shakes his head, “What a ridiculous man.” he says fondly.

Taking a Chupa Chup out of the box, he then notices a small note that reads, " **Mr. Cutie-Snuggle-Boop ;)** "

Scott scoffs, "I so did not call it that." 

" _On the contrary, you did, Scott_." informs SAM.

 _Aw, crap._ "I'll never hear the end of this." He sighs.

**Author's Note:**

> Firstly, I need lessons in humour and I apologise for this nonesense. :|
> 
> Secondly, I have no idea how the stuffed toy (Care Bear) made its way into this. o.O
> 
> Thirdly, I meant no offence to any Catholics.
> 
> And finally, all comments and kudos are greatly appreciated! n_n <3


End file.
